Destiny: The Wayfarer's Grace
by Owen Atticus
Summary: An outcast half-Awoken/half-Human begins a search for her long-lost mother, only to find much more than she had bargained for. Fighting against The Darkness, her past, and her heritage, she will come to discover her life was destined for more than she ever thought possible.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Ghost Fragment: The Reef: 0001_

What is this? I thought I was dead. I must have been dead, I'm sure of it. Nothing else would explain how my….

-ENERGY SURGE DETECTED / LIGHT INFUSION HAS RESTORED PARTIAL FUNCTIONALITY

What has happened to me? Where are my memories? Have they been stolen? Have I… forgotten them— is that even possible?

-LIGHT INFUSION AT 68% / MOMENTARY PAUSE FOR READJUSTMENT FROM EXTERIOR SOURCE

Where is my Guardian? Surely she is the one that has restored me. But where is her Light? She is nowhere to be found. Oh, I cannot even remember her name. Her face is a cloudy dream to me.

Are… you her?

-ENERGY SURGE COMPLETED / LIGHT INFUSION SUCCESS: UNKNOWN

"No." My main sensor is finally able to focus on the pale face of a female. "But I need your help."


	2. Chapter 1 - The Outcast

**Chapter 1 - The Outcast**

_Guardian Transmission Log - 25J-47-FQ3 / Unidentified User_

_ -Possible Network Error / Fragment Capture_

"_The Reef didn__'__t always have a name. The asteroid field that surrounded the Solar System was once called the Kuiper Belt. During the Golden Age, many of its larger chunks were mined for precious metals and fuel for the colony ships that would carry Humans past the expanse of the System. All that remained were barren rock and rubble. _

_No one had ever thought the remaining wasteland would be a shelter from Humanity__'__s greatest enemies. And yet, that refuge would become a place of compromise, deceit, power-struggles, and ultimately one of the greatest tragedies to pollute the Light. _

_It is not certain that the Awoken fully understood the result of their indifference towards the Light and the Darkness. They claim to have transcended both, exalting themselves above either position in blatant arrogance. It was only a select few who stood up against tradition and the politics of convenience. I was one of them, and I was determine to change my destiny for the better._

_This is the story I will tell. This is the story i lived to find true.__"_

_ \- End Fragment Capture_

* * *

_The Reef_

_Asteroid Cluster 27-H_

_Year of the Queen 2717, Month of Yen _

The warning klaxons aboard the ancient frigate resounded through the main cabin, only to die out when the local power conduit failed to keep them going. The lone occupant swore out loud and donned on her life-support helmet. _They found us again_. Finishing up clearing out the storage bins for supplies and securing them in her backpack, Henrietta Millan secured the bulbous helmet to her suit's collar and immediately heard the voice of her shipmate over the comm.

"Scout ships are inbound, Etta. We need to bolt."

"Are you still in the engine room, Rand?" she asked, already starting for the cockpit. But before he could answer she nearly bowled him over at the cabin's entrance.

Rand Vinyar gasped but held up his hand to halt her progression to the cockpit. "No need. I signaled the others to regroup at Camp Bravo. We can use the shuttle to slip out of sight, but I'm afraid this place is compromised. As long as we can shake our pursuit, we should be fine."

Etta frowned. "And who is our pursuit?"

Rand snorted. "Who do you think?" He made the unspoken hand gesture: thumb, middle, and pinky finger raised with the index and ring finger lowered.

_The Queen__'__s Guard_. "_Dammit_," Etta swore. "I thought this sector had been swept clean three days ago."

"They must be stepping up their patrols," Rand offered. He shook his head. "We need to move, _now_."

Etta turned around and started for the docking collar. Their shuttle was a hunk of junk, but it was almost impossible to detect in the midst of a debris cluster— and The Reef was full of them. As she turned down the last short corridor, she found herself growing frustrated. More so than usual. The ship they had found would have been the perfect hideout. It had plenty of O2 reserves and its thick hull would have blocked nearly any sensor probe an Emissary's ship could have sent out. It didn't matter that the jump drive was dead, only that the ship could maintain atmosphere and heat for an extended period of time.

Then she narrowed the focal point of her anger._ How were we found?_ She paused to think, and this time Rand did bump into her. She shrugged off his pull of her arm and stopped short of entered the docking collar. "What did the sensor readouts say, Rand?"

Even through the slight opacity of his visor, she could see his face scrunch up. "Why does that matter? We've been found and we need to get off this ship."

"Did the energy signatures match the patrols' profile?" Etta asked, starting to suspect something she didn't want to assume. "You know the Guard's ships run quieter than civilian's, right?"

"I know," he said with a child-like tone. "We don't have time to double check the sensors. I saw what I saw and activated the alarm." He put his hands on his hips exasperatedly. "Look, if we don't leave now we're going to be dragged off to the _Canyon_, and I know you wouldn't last long in that prison."

"And why is that? Because I'm a half-breed?"

"It's because your a _refugee_, Etta," he said bluntly. Rand paused slightly, shook his head dismissively, and grabbed her arm again. "Let's go."

But Etta shrugged it off again, this time more forcefully. "_Don__'__t _touch me," she said through clenched teeth. His stance told her he was about to make his move, but she needed to be sure. "You aren't a refugee like me, are you?" she accused, while taking a cautious step backward.

Rand squared his shoulders. "No one is like you, Etta," he said with a slightly darker tone.

Even through the visor, she could feel his gaze work up and down her slender form, and it sent a chill up her spine. "You don't have to do this, Rand. You don't have to live like this."

"You have something special going on," he added, not even hearing Etta's reply. Rand lowered his voice even more, completely removing his deceptive façade of a fellow refugee she once found trustworthy. "And that sort of uniqueness will pay handsomely with the Slavers Guild."

Etta slowly shook her head. _It was all a lie. He is a lie. Rand is a bona fide Awoken trafficker. _Etta had bought Rand's story when she ran into him at Camp Bravo. He seemed so genuine in his plight's story, but his lack of 'roughing it' made her doubt his background more and more. Reef refugees were, by nature, living off of the broken ships and asteroid stations that littered the Belt. Creature comforts, of which Rand knew plenty of, were few and far between. Only those that had joined with outlaws and thieves knew of the things Rand spoke.

But Etta had wanted to believe him, wanted to hope the best for him. He had proved himself a competent shipmate, but his leading them to this particular ship had been a miraculous find. A find, she could only now assume, that was given to him by the Slavers Guild as a trap for her.

Etta had done a tremendous job at hiding her identity of being half Awoken and half Human by taking numerous precautions, but Rand must have heard from someone at Tsavo Station of her true nature. Which meant that that particular refugee camp was no longer safe to hide in.

"So what was your plan then?" Etta asked. "You were going to pilot the shuttle right into the belly of a Guild ship? Knock me unconscious in the back of the head and hope oxygen deprivation doesn't kill me during a cold-shirt transfer?"

Completely gone was his artificial demeanor. Rand reached behind his back and stepped sideways. "Something like that." The weapon he produced was a short-barrel pistol and he waved it to direct her down the docking collar. "Move."

Being barely out of her teens, Etta still knew a thing or two about self-defense. She learned so much from other refugee women that had experienced bondage and suffering at the hands of slavers. It was a sad truth that the civility of ancestors past was gone with the Light from the fabled "Traveler".

But with defending herself, timing was everything. She knew that if she stepped into that shuttle, her life would no longer be in her control. He would have all the advantages, and she would become a victim of trafficking like many other Awoken females had become.

"I don't need to shoot you, Etta, but the Guild's recent raid on a medical frigate _did_ provided us with a healing tube…" He trailed off and waved his hand.

"You're a worthless _condu_ slug, you know that?" Etta could feel heat behind her eyes as her anger boiled. She stepped onto the lip of the doorway, grabbed the frame of the docking collar's oval hatch, and paused. She waited for Rand to stick her in the back with the tip of his gun, and he obliged. _Idiot_. Only untrained, undisciplined traffickers gave their captives a precise placement of their weapon by pressing it against them.

Etta's movement was swift and sudden. She raised her heel up in a sweeping arc that clocked the back of Rand's helmet. As he fell forward, he put a hand on Etta's shoulder, while the pistol slipped past her side. She pinched his hand with her left arm and pushed the pistol outward with her right hand, causing Rand to shriek as his fingers bent at an angle they were never intended to go.

The gun fired, and the bullet hit the interior wall of the docking collar, breaking the atmospheric hold in both ships. She pried the gun loose and it was immediately suck out of the gaping hole in the collar's wall. Etta knew that the dying hulk of the ship wouldn't automatically keep the O2 levels balanced, but the shuttle they had brought would indeed resort to safety protocols and seal itself off from the docking collar all together.

Rand must have been thinking the same thing. With his grip still on her shoulder, he pulled her back into the airlock room and bolted for the shuttle. The doors were already starting to close, but Rand threw himself forward, twisting in the air, and managed to get mostly through the gap. His right leg, below the knee, was caught in the closing doors. With a sickening thud and a cry of absolute pain, Rand's leg was severed. The leftover appendage started to slide across the collar floor towards the venting hole in the wall.

Etta didn't have time to waste. She got to her feet and started running for the cockpit. He suit gave her a maximum of one hour's worth of air but it depended on how heavily she breathed and how much she moved. _Rand, you worthless piece of_—

Another alarm went off over the comm system, signaling that the shuttle had indeed departed. Etta swore out loud again, and flew through the final doorway to the cockpit. The oval shaped viewport wrapped around to cover a good peripheral of port and starboard. The asteroids outside were still as they had been, but with the shove off of the shuttle, the ship was now rotating slowly, making her an easy mark for a Guild vessel. Her frigate was now her only means of avoiding capture.

She glanced over the controls and found the energy reserves dangerously low, but an engine restart was possible. Closing her eyes and hoping for the best, she pushed the sequence button. With a stutter and a non-musical change in pitch, the frigate roared to life. Several readouts on the console to her left lit up in the red instantly, but the controls came to life in her hands and she waited a moment for the ship to warm up.

That moment ended when a glimmer of light from behind one of the asteroids caught her eye. Kicking the drive on, she accelerated slowly. The cumbersome craft immediately tended to drift to port, causing Etta to work the controls more feverishly. But when she steered towards port, the ship responded amazing well. _Note to self_.

Slowly gathering speed, the frigate pushed through the nearest opening of debris and into the asteroid cluster. The floating rocks were of completely various sizes, some as big as a star cruiser and some were this size of one's fist. Both, given the right velocity, could be deadly.

Brilliant flashes of light played out from the distant source of the glimmer and Etta knew the enemy craft was firing long-range ion missiles. She check her sensors and found the incoming ballistics not even registering on the screen. She pulled up in a long, swooping arc and piloted the frigate back through the hole in the debris. The Guild ship was taking pots shots to try and disable her ship, that she was sure of—only ion missiles lit up like the burning lamps on the Queen's Day Parade. They were costly weapons, and she wondered how much of a price was truly on finding an exotic female such as herself. She cursed at Rand again.

The frigate traced back through the path their shuttle had taken through the debris field, but didn't do well to avoid running into parts of ships that scrapped along her hull. Recklessly plowing through the narrow clearings, Etta took advantage of the frigate's toughness and made it through to the other side.

This particular cloud of debris from the ships long since vacant was spread out several kilometers wide, while still encased inside the asteroid field itself. When the ion missiles detonated prematurely, it was only a few hundred meters behind the frigate against a piece of a cruiser that had drifted in the way. Checking her sensors, Etta knew that the Guild ship would not be too far off.

She pulled the nose of the frigate up and leveled off, hoping to see a glimpse of the shuttle Rand was piloting. If he knew what was good for him, he would latch onto an asteroid and wait for the fight to be over. But her sensors beeped a warning and she knew the Guild was catching up—fast.

Taking the frigate deeper into the asteroid field, Etta was beginning to wonder if she would get out of this whole thing alive. A life at the hands of slavers was no way to live, and she rather die than become their latest victim.

The cumbersome craft drifted through the field, but Etta found the larger floating rocks moving too fast to set down on and hide. _The ion missiles must have caused a chain reaction and now this whole place just got a lot more deadly. _The once peaceful cluster was now a moving minefield.

And things were about to go from bad to worse.

Her sensors didn't even register the Guild ship dropping in behind her. All 300 meters of the repurposed Awoken destroyer was a scuffed up version of the ship's once-mighty glory, but it could still live out its name's sake when pressed into action. The flash of ion fire illuminated an asteroid just off to port from the frigate, bathing the rock in purple disabling electric current. She steered to starboard, but the movement was so sluggish that the next ion blast caught the frigate on its keel. Half of the console lights winked out of existence and the controls momentarily froze, sending her on a collision course with a large chunk of rock in the near distance.

Etta gritted her teeth and hastily typed in commands to override the life-support systems to supply enough power to propulsion. Another blast sent even more asteroid chunks in all directions, and the view outside the cockpit was filled with the objects. The frigate's console lit up with collision warnings as Etta finished her task.

The steering controls loosened just in time, and Etta pulled hard to port, using the ship's natural tug in that direction to get clear of the hazard in her view. In the frigate's wake the large chunk of rock hurtled to fill the space Etta had just vacated.

The destroyer still had enough servos operating, though, to pull out of the rubble and steer clear of the most devastating impacts. Smaller pieces of rock ricocheted and dented the Guild ship's hull, but it stayed on Etta's tail nonetheless.

"C'mon!" she pleased to no one in particular. Her only hope now was to try to crash-land on a hollowed out asteroid or seek cover inside the ship debris field several kilometers upstar from the last one. She pushed the engines as hard as she could.

Etta soon found a decent way of piloting the frigate. Whenever she needed to bank right, should would corkscrew to flip herself 180 degrees and just turn to port. The gambit was working to keep the destroyer's ion cannons from hitting her again, right up until she reached the edge of the clearing between asteroid field and ship debris.

The dual impact from the ion blasts felt so foreign to Etta. There was no jarring, sudden stop, just an abrupt halting of all the frigate's functions. The engines died and the gravity slowly left, allowing her to feel weightless in the cockpit. Every glowpanel, console screen, and control light winked out, leaving only the dim purple haze from the beacons the Queen's Guard had set up for asteroid navigation to shine.

Etta knew she was dead. Her only choice would be how she would go out: by her hands or theirs. She was certain that if her comm unit still worked that the Guild would be taunting her until they would board. Frustrated, she slammed her fist against the non-functioning console. _If anything on this bucket of bolts worked, I could at least use the self-destruct! Then I could take a few of them with me._

Her momentary sense of justice came in a way she never would have expected. From the debris field she was now drifting towards, several pinpoints of light danced through the haze of burned out ship hulks. Through the viewport overhead, she could see the destroyer come into view, preparing to board, but suddenly pausing.

The pinpoints then gathered together to form a V-shaped flight pattern, and the destroyer immediately pulled away from the frigate and launched its chaff mines.

With the frigate's sensors dead, Etta stood up and tried to see which way the destroyer was heading, but it vanished out of view. When she faced forward again the five pinpoints had resolved into fast-moving scout ships. The shape of the vessels were angular, sleek, and deadly. They easily dispatched the chaff mines with precision shots of void cannon fire. Moving too fast to really catch who was piloting the ships, the unmistakable yellow against purple "Mark of the Queen" was clearly visible on the fuselage of the nearest scout ship.

Etta took a deep breath of relief. If there was one thing the Queen's Guard hated more than refugees it was the Slavers Guild. The Queen's Guard was made up of mostly female Awoken, and their viciousness in how they dealt with trafficking made Etta wonder how that evil was still happening out in the Reef.

She could only see the dim reflections against smaller rocks that hinted at the battle that was waging behind her ship, but it was over in a matter of minutes. A crackle from her internal comm unit, made her doubt the assumed outcome, and she expected to here Rand's voice in her ear. But again, Etta found herself breathing a sigh of relief.

"Unidentified Frigate, this is Guard Patrol Valencia. Please state your condition and your affiliation," came the crisp, professional voice of a female Awoken. "You will not be harmed."

Etta checked her suit's diagnostics. Thankfully, the ion blasts didn't reach her only means of surviving hard vacuum. "I'm okay. My ship is completely non-functional, and I currently have approximately 45 minutes of life-support available."

There was a fairly long pause over the comm. "State your affiliation."

Etta frowned. She didn't know how much information she should give, but when three of the scout ships descended in escort formation in front of her, she had no choice but to be honest. "Refugee of the Awoken, Outcast Brand."

There was another long pause.

The Outcast Brand was given to the offspring of Awoken that had defied the Queen in a way the Court deemed inappropriate. It was a way to "protect" the Awoken people from the sons and daughters of outcasts so as to never face such problems from them again. Even now, it was a practice fading into tradition of generations past, and one that some felt was unjust.

"Stand by, Refugee."

Unseen from her angle, the last two scout ships tethered to the frigate and began towing her towards the debris field she was facing. "Thank you, Valencia," Etta acknowledged.

"We will escort you to a nearby asteroid station where you can exact repairs. We can detect no lifeforms aboard the outpost, and we cannot send a response team. Please carry out your maintenance quickly. Valencia, Out."

Etta slowly nodded to herself. In all honesty, what this Guard Patrol was doing was above and beyond what any Emissary or Guard had done for her, ever. _Maybe there is still hope for the Awoken_.

Still, she wasn't out of trouble just yet. There was no telling what scavengers and refugees had left in the abandoned asteroid station. As long as she could make repairs to the frigate, she could get back to safety.

_But where is safe for me anymore?_ Now that Rand had teamed up with the Slavers Guild, it was almost a guarantee that any refugee camp she had stayed at might be compromised. She blew out a frustrated breath. It was salvation on the asteroid station or nothing.

Steadying herself against the cockpit walls, she started towards the O2 pressurizers in the back of the ship. Her suit's headlamp automatically flicked on and she set about preparing herself for an extended stay on the deserted outpost.

She only hoped she could live long enough to find Rand Vinyar—and kill him.


	3. Chapter 2 - Apparition Of The Past

Chapter 2 - Apparition of the Past

The five ships from Guard Patrol Valencia disappeared from view as they blasted away from the asteroid station. Despite leaving her stranded in the main hangar, they did have the curtesy to rotate the frigate around to face the stars outside. The constant eerie glow from the purple beacons scattered throughout the Reef was now Etta's only companion.

Scanning the cockpit one final time, she started for the landing ramp. Gathered at the exit hatch was all that she could think to grab: O2 tanks from the frigate, various tools concealed in a fabric carrying case, and her personal pack. She always kept the most vital items on her: ration bars, diagnostic datapad, water filtration unit— things that had kept her alive before.

She wasn't clear of the blast zone yet, though. The frigate needed dire repairs, she had no way of contacting anyone safely, and her oxygen levels were quickly fading. _I need to find a sealed off room in this station and pump one of the O2 tanks into the enviro-unit. _And if the base didn't have any generator power left, she would soon be forced to induce self-cryo stasis. It was an old and crude method of artificial hibernation, but her suit could perform the procedure and keep her in stasis for at least a month.

Etta shivered at that thought and turned the lever on the hatch. With a prolonged hiss, the hatch opened, retracting upward. She hefted the backpack over both shoulders and gathered the tool case and the O2 tanks, secured in a netting, in each hand. It wasn't until she saw the flicker of pseudo-motion along the edge of the station's opened hangar that she realized a magnetic containment field was still active and was most likely keeping some kind of atmosphere inside the station.

Miraculously, the base still had power.

Within several steps onto the deck, she knew she was in a shipping/receiving hangar. Few civilian eyes had probably ever seen this section of the station that was reserved for the loading and unloading of cargo. Personnel transports would have been located in a more pleasant location, free of the purely practical layout of the ceiling rails where loaders would extract shipments and where the deck wasn't so course and uneasy to walk upon. She found her boots were barely wide enough not to slip through the grated floor. When she stepped into the shadow of the frigate, her suit's exterior lights automatically turned on to light the way.

There were only two exits that she could make out. The first was the giant cavern that had been hollowed out to move the supplies deeper into the station directly ahead of her. The second was a blast door that led to a deck officer's office. She chose the latter and checked her O2 levels, with a cursory glance. _Dammit_. They were getting dangerously low.

A long time ago, Etta had learned to suppress her emotions, but right now panic was slowly creeping up inside. She had been in situations like this before and breaking down was a quick way to die. Etta had seen it happen to too many refugees when a ship was attacked or a plague in a section of a camp had broken out. Fear is one of the most powerful inhibitors of action. She was just made of tougher stuff.

The blast door was still sealed from the inside. Etta set down the tanks and the tool bag and opened up her pack. Examining the door panel, she pulled out a little device that had saved her many times over. She had found the lock picking tool during her second scouting mission with the Raiders— her long-departed group of misfits from her first refugee camp. It had been simply lying on a desk deep in some forgotten colony ship they had been exploring, and she had kept it ever since.

Running it over the control plate, the centuries-old electronics gave a faint but sure sound and a brief flash of green could even be seen on the door panel. But when the door opened, the depressurization knocked Etta back on her rear. Her suit snagged on one of the sharper edges of the grated deck and tore right through. The sudden pain hit her outer thigh and lanced up to her hip. She gulped in a giant breath, knowing her suit had been compromised, and quickly crawled through the doorway. The rush of atmosphere leaving the office had subsided and she reached back through to grab the tanks, the tool kit, and her pack. Attempting to stand up and close the door proved futile from the gash in her leg, and she fell back to the ground.

With a final effort, she reached up and pulled the door closed, spinning the hatch wheel clockwise to lock it. Wheezing in a breath, she unlatched her helmet and threw it off. The air she inhaled was musty and cold, but was breathable nonetheless. Taking in more air, she quickly examined her suit's rupture. Her right side was red with blood but the shock of pain had already subsided.

Seeing a toppled-over chair, she uprighted it and pulled herself up. Rummaging through her pack, she started on the medical kit diagnostic. A quick pass over the wound told her it wasn't as bad as she originally thought. The cut was long and not deep, but her suit would need patched. She had air, sufficient supplies, and currently, shelter. Etta forced a deep breath and closed her eyes. _I can do this; I__'__m going to make it_.

But her calming moment didn't last long and the events of the past several hours finally caught up with her. Tears formed at the edge of her blue eyes and she choked out a stuttered cry. Betrayed by someone she had trusted with her life, the fear of becoming a trafficking victim, and the current state of things made her burry her face in her hands.

It had been so long since she had broken down like this. She saw it as a sign of weakness, but in was reminder that the Reef was still a dark and cruel place to exist, let alone live.

_Maybe I__'__m not as tough as i thought_. She blew out a frustrated sigh and got to work. She hated making meters out of microns by jumping to conclusions of grand helplessness when it wasn't the case.

The O2 tanks, as it turned out, had been nearly empty, but she replenished the small reserve built into her suit with two of the tanks, leaving a pair left. A siphon hose found in a nearby cabinet made that possible.

The wound was quickly mended by the active-balm most Reef refugees bartered for in the shadows of the camps. She had traded two old timepieces for just an ounce of the stuff. It smelled like old fuel drums but worked like a charm. Her suit was properly sealed with a self-adhesive patch, similar in design to the giant ones she had used to fix leaking cabins aboard starships.

It would have taken her a fraction of the time to fix herself up had it not been for the flickering of the glowpanels. Not wanting to exhaust her suit's battery, Etta had relied on the dim lighting from the sconces along the walls. But she wondered how much longer the lights would be staying on. Once she was ready, she headed deeper into the station.

Reaching into her pack, she pulled out her knife and held it in an overhand grip. The blade was worn and rusted, and she remembered what Rand has said about it. "Oh, you could kill somebody with that knife, sure, but they'll die from an infection from the rust before they bleed out." She cracked a smile at the memory but it quickly faded. Rand had gotten her into this mess; it was _he_ who should be bleeding out by now.

She moved down the corridor and into a small lobby, most likely a waiting room for pilots of cargo frigates. The glowpanels dimmed again, this time started over her head and moving outward, like a illuminating wave. _Must be a power grid failure_.

There were several exits from the room, but she chose the one that had a sign above it labeled: DEPARTURES. If there was another ship or even a stockpile of parts in maintenance, it would be close by and not much deeper into the base. She started but the lights went out for a good five seconds before returning to half intensity.

Fear started to grip her stomach, and Etta turned on her suit's path-lights. She wasn't afraid of the dark but what could be lurking in it. The glowpanels dimmed again, this time flashing near a different exit, the one labeled: STORAGE DEPOT.

Etta was starting to get the sense that someone or something was telling her to take a certain path. Thinking it through, it would most likely end in her capture—she was sure of it—but she could also prepare for a trap and take a different path. _After all, if someone was here, I can just steal their ship._

The lights flickered once more, this time resolving in an obvious pattern that told Etta to follow. Gathering herself and preparing for the worst, she slowly started down the lighted path.

* * *

The lights took her deeper into the base, farther than she thought possible, and it wasn't until she heard the voice that she knew it wasn't a trap. Etta couldn't explain it, but there was something very pure and wholesome in its tone.

"_Guardian, you have come.__"_ It was female and entirely haunting. Oddly enough, it was also calming.

Stepping into a storage room full of ancient containers and shelves, she saw the source of her beckoning. Propped up against the back wall was a humanoid figure in worn, scarred armor. Every surface of the being was covered in some form of protection—even its face had ceramic-looking plates grafted to its skin. It didn't move.

Etta moved closer, keeping a firm grip on her knife, but doubting she would need to use it. Green eyes flickered to life and the mouth started to move, but no words came out. The smallest sounds of mechanical gears struggling to function rose and fell with the intensity of the glowing eyes. Then a voice came.

"Guardian, you have come," it repeated.

Etta froze. The voice was coming through her comm unit, not through the mouth of the armored being. She frowned, not sure how to respond.

"Guardian, you have come… at last." The voice was clearer, stronger now. "I am no longer able to carry the Light. I am too far gone."

Etta knelt down beside the humanoid, looking even more closely at its face. The eyes lit up again and the head slowly turned toward her. "Who are you?" Etta asked. "_What_ are you?"

"I am Exo KayDee-3, Defender of the Light," she spoke out loud. The eyes died out again, and the voice returned to the comm. "My Ghost… will guide you." She went silent for a moment before continuing. "Brave the Light, crave the Light, shine the Light."

And with that final phrase, the Exo female's transmission was cut off with a burst of static over the comm. Etta searched the Guardian's face for a sign of life but knew KayDee-3 was gone. She sat down and shook her head. The storage room suddenly felt colder, even through her enviro-suit.

But then heat and light began to rise from the cracks in the Exo's armor. Tendrils of light emitted and reached out to Etta. She tried to scramble to her feet, but the supernatural pull of the light was overwhelming. It pushed her back down—with force, but still gentle. Its "touch" was a burning sensation that she could feel through her suit. She couldn't quite understand it, but there was something absolutely pure and right about the smoky tendrils of glistening light. The Light was something to be desired, she was sure of it. Etta almost reached out to grab it, forcing an interaction.

It did not penetrate her, though. The tendrils seemed to pause on her—like they were considering her—but redirected to travel over her shoulder. Awe mixed with sadness, as a sense of rejection washed over her with the Light. Whatever this magnificent thing was, it had passed her over. This… denial made her feel more alone that she had ever felt before.

"Am I forever an outcast?" she said aloud. "Will I always be cursed?" Tears began to form around the corners of her eyes—eyes that were now glowing a brilliant blueish-white.

She turned around and found the Light moving down the row of shelves and off to the right. Etta scrambled to her feet and followed. Tendrils snaked around the room, sometimes directly through objects, and they quickly spread out for Etta to loose sight of them altogether.

There was a stillness in the air that lasted for what seemed like an eternity, but Etta finally heard a faint sound back where she had found the Exo. She hurried through the aisles and found something she wasn't expecting.

Hovering over the dead Guardian was a geometrically-shaped drone with a single glowing blue eye. Its forward half rotated around its central axis and it turned to face her. Then, it spoke to her. "Where is my Guardian?"

The tiny drone turned and examined the Exo again, this time emitting a scanning sensor over the dead body. It muttered something Etta couldn't hear and then turned to face her once more. "Are you… her?"

The tone in its voice was almost childlike, but Etta could sense a genuine curiosity wanting an answer. "No, but my name is Etta." She stepped forward, dropping her knife and opening up her hands. "And I need your help."

"My help?" The blue eye narrowed and the drone scanned the Exo again. "My Guardian can no longer be revived. How is that possible?"

Etta shrugged helplessly, not knowing what to say. She had no knowledge of any of this. "I need your help," she repeated, this time more slowly.

"Ah, now I see." He rotated in the air in the manner of a shaking of the head. "She… sacrificed herself." The drone turned to hover within arm's reach of Etta's face. "She sacrificed her LIght… for me."

"You are her Ghost," Etta said, attempting to confirm what the Exo had stated.

"Yes! You spoke with her?" Ghost replied slightly more emphatically. "What did she say to you?"

Etta swallowed, knowing that she would be bound to this floating light by answering truthfully. She had heard grand tales of Guardians as a child—most casted them as conniving thieves that would sneak into your home and steal your valuables. She didn't even know what a Guardian truly was, but she needed to get off of this station. "She said that you will guide me."

"I will guide you?" Ghost asked, then exchanged glances between Etta and the Exo. A chopped up recording of the conversation Etta had with the Exo played at four times the speed from a tiny speaker in the drone's chassis. "Yes, I will guide you. It was her dying wish."

A beeping alert from her suit made Etta snap back into her current reality. She looked at the diagnostic readout from her wrist display and saw her battery levels were dangerously low. As if on cue, the lights overhead dimmed and their intensity was less than half of what it was.

Ghost looked up and around. "That is not good." A beam of light suddenly illuminated from the eye of the drone, like some glorified flashlight. "This way, please."

Etta got a sense of urgency from Ghost but paused when her gaze fell back on the Exo. "What about her? Do we take her with us?"

Ghost, either being courteous by not blinding Etta with his light or in a state of passive reflection, didn't look back. "I will take care of her. Just as I will take care of you."

Without warning the female Exo's body was consumed with a swirling blue transparency and quickly disappeared in an electrical whirlwind. The body was gone. Etta had never seen anything like it.

"What… How?"

Ghost's 'face' spun on its axis. "In terms you would understand, I teleported her body to our ship."

"A _ship_?" Etta blurted out. "You have a ship? Is it working? Can you get us out of here?"

Ghost began moving lazily down the aisle. "Yes; unknown; and I will try."

Etta followed, feeling a rush of excitement. The flickering lights died out completely and left Ghost's light leading the way. It should have caused her anxiety, but with Ghost, there was something anciently comforting about him, like long-lost kin that a mother had told affectionate stories about. She wasn't even sure _what_ he was, but Etta had a strong sense that she could trust him—completely.


	4. Chapter 3 - The Last City

Chapter 3 - The Last City

Ghost led Etta down through a maintenance shaft throughway, totally hidden from the station's normal layout. She stumbled and hit her head several times on lower-hanging pipes and conduits, but her O2 levels were back to normal, after she had stopped to replace her air intake from one of the tanks she had brought.

When she slid through the final hatch, Etta entered a small hangar complete with several odd-looking ships, designs she had never seen before. It was then that she realized the hangar lights were on, and even more larger glowpanels were starting to come online. A thick layer of dust coated everything, even the floor left shallow footprints when she followed Ghost over to the rear-most ship.

Sleek lines and sharp angles framed a stark, glossy black jumpship. It reminder her of something she had seen in old story holos she read as a kid. Dust and decay seemed to have neglected this particular ship and Etta felt a rush of reassurance.

Ahead of her, Ghost disappeared in the same bluish-white electrical whirlwind as KayDee had before. Etta stopped and heard her comm unit come to life. "Just give me a moment," Ghost replied.

"Okay," Etta said, helplessly. She scanned the rest of the hangar and noticed the collective state things were in. It was as if the entire station's personnel had vanished in the middle of their tasks and left this place untouched for a very long time. She saw tool carts and refueling trucks parked in between ships ready to be serviced. Her eyes grew wide when she figured those carts and trucks were most likely full of priceless amounts of contraband she could sell and barter with back at the camps—or wherever in The Reef.

Etta activated her comm. "Ghost, do you think we could take some of these supplies with us on our way out? This stuff is worth a lot of food and trader coins where I'm from."

"We have a different destination, I'm afraid," Ghost replied, almost apologetically.

"And where's that?"

Without warning, the bluish-white haze surrounded her and she was instantly in another place—aboard the ship, to be exact. Ghost hovered before her in a dimly lit compartment. She shook off the slight tingle in her hands and feet.

"Back to the Speaker," the floating machine said. "He has called us home." Ghost turned slowly to his right, where the female Exo's body was now laying on a metal slab. "_She_ has been called."

"Who's the Speaker?" Etta asked as politely as she could without seeming insensitive. "Where is he? 'Cause there are definitely things I need to finish here in The Reef. Rand has to pay for the stunt he tried to pull on me, and there's a trading bazaar that's going down in a few days over at Gratto Rock Outpost."

Ghost tilted his frame in mild confusion. "These plans you made, are they important?"

Etta frowned. "What? Of course they are! This is my livelihood I'm talking about. Without salvage, a refugee is nothing here." She stretched out her arms. "This hangar is stocked full of supplies I could sell and trade. This cache alone could sustain me for years."

The deck started to vibrate as the ship began to come to life. Ghost moved in closer, almost too close for comfort. "You have been living in the most desolate place in this Solar System. You must know that your life can be so much more than salvage and trade. Call it a hunch, but I believe you were meant for something greater."

Etta didn't know what to say. Ghost was speaking with words she had never heard, ideas that didn't make sense to her. How could she, a desperate, hull-scrapping, half-breed refugee ever find purpose in life other that mere survival? It was the question she now needed an answer to, and it seemed Ghost was willing to take her to it.

She simply nodded and the ship lifted off the hangar floor.

"Our destination is Earth, The Last City." Ghost moved deeper into the ship and disappeared into the darkened cockpit.

* * *

Henrietta slept like she never had before. Being an Awoken refugee meant sleeping with one eye open and hoping someone was staying up on watch, knowing you would replace them in a few hours. No nightmares came and hopeful dreams of comfort and wonder filled her unconsciousness.

When she finally did wake up, it was from the need to urinate. The cabin she was in had been KayDee's, that she was sure of, but the Exo must not have been into fancy things at all, given the total lack of anything more than a desk, some sort of mutli-connection electronic docking station, and a self-contouring mattress. Etta pushed upright and got to her feet. Her bare feet hit the warm deck and she curled her toes in relief. So often she was wrapped in enviro-suits and it felt good to strip down to just the essential clothing of undergarments, a tank top, slacks and boots, which were thrown off in the corner of the room. Crossing the hallway to the refresher, she could hear something strange coming from the hold.

Etta tried to quickly go to the refresher, but the controls and ergonomics felt completely different than what she was use to. Eventually she figured it out and was even able to wash her face. A mirror, one of the clearest she'd ever seen, reflected her image back at her, and Etta got a good look at herself.

Pale white skin allowed her deep blueish-purple eyes to shape her dark eyelashes, and it was only when she was in great emotional distress that they would shine brightly and appear more human. Her dark blue hair was full and thick, not an Awoken trait, and she currently held it in a long braid the was pinned up. She poked at the fasteners but realized a good washing was in store before she could collapse the heaping mess down around her shapely shoulders. She was of average height and build, but she had tremendous reflexes and flexibility. Her hands were calloused and face weary, but she felt collected, calm.

She pulled off her tank top and used it to wipe the water from her face, carrying it with her while starting for the hold. Blue-silver light would flash for a few seconds and then disappear on the ceiling and walls down the short corridor. When Etta stepped through the hold's doorway she could see Ghost hovering over the Exo's lifeless body. He didn't acknowledge her arrival but he did speak.

"She's really gone." He fired another sliver of light at the Exo's chest armor. "My Guardian is… no more." Sadness, even through his metallic voice, was easily detectable.

Etta finished drying her hands and dabbed her face one more time. "Where you two close?" she asked, trying to lead him into a more reflective mood. She had realized this little floating machine was prone to moments of pause, and helping steer him into a conversation would make for a more pleasant time.

"Close?" Ghost replied. "Yes. The Exo are something else entirely. We could 'speak' to each other without doing so verbally." He moved over to a console that fired up with a flickering screen.

"You could communicate, like computers sharing information?" Etta asked, moving to the left side of the Exo.

"Yes, quantum-kinetically," Ghost offered. "Instantaneously understanding each other is something I could never do with you or any other human, but KayDee…." He trailed off and turned back to look at Etta. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm use to it." She pointed at the Exo. "What did you two do together? I've never really understood what Guardians actually do."

"There is so much that I have forgotten—so much that has been lost." Behind Ghost, the display he had activated began to show a series of images that looked like celestial maps—star charts. "Even this ship cannot fully account for where we have been, but we have seen many planets, moons, and systems, that I can vaguely recall."

Etta's eyes grew wide. "Other systems? You've been out past The Reef?"

Ghost seemed to deflate and began a low altitude drift around KayDee's body. "Yes. There, we fought The Darkness." A holographic display wavered into existence about the Exo, as Ghost continued. In pale greens and blues, raw helmet-cam feed clips, from what must have been KayDee's own viewpoint, flashed wildly with movements fast and sudden. Blurry hostile forces fired various projectile weapons at the Exo, but KayDee managed to evade and even eliminate most of the contacts that were briefly shown.

Etta shook her head. Even in the short, hard-to-make-out highlight reel, she could tell Ghost had been through a lot with KayDee. "I can't imagine how difficult fighting in battle must have been." She pulled her eyes away from the replay of events on the holoprojection and walked over to the screen full of various planets and moons. "But how did you end up back at the station where I found you? Surely you can remember that, right?"

Ghost moved to her side. "Emistar Station, that's what they used to call it." The screen flickered and began to display technical data on the asteroid station they had just left. "It was an outpost for one of the Exo divisions, with a handful of Guardians overseeing operations. KayDee was one of those Guardians… she was also the last to survive the attack."

"Attack? By whom?"

"The Fallen." Ghost changed the display again, this time showing her the faces of a recognizable alien race. "They struck swiftly and strategically. Almost as if they knew exactly how to disable our defenses and where to attach their boarding craft to our hidden docks. They blocked all exits of escape. The Exo fought bravely, but we could not hold out against the Fallen's numeric superiority."

Ghost paused and drifted back to KayDee. He remained silent.

Etta leaned against a support column and put her top back on. "What will you do, now that you no longer have a Guardian?"

"That is not for me to decide, Awoken," Ghost replied solemnly. "The Speaker will choose for me another, perhaps. Or I will attempt to become one with The Traveler itself and forge into Motes of Light."

She nodded, but his tone suggested he would rather linger on alone with KayDee's remains for a long while. Etta decided to give him the room and leave him be, so she started for the exit.

When she was halfway into the corridor Ghost spoke once more. "We are a few minutes out, Awoken. I will join you in the cockpit soon."

"It's Henrietta," she offered. "My name is Henrietta Millan."

Ghost turned to look at her, but this time with a slight tilt to his right. "Very well, Miss Millan."

"You can call me Etta, for short."

"Etta," he said slowly, as if trying out the name first. "Very well."

* * *

She didn't feel the sudden deceleration in speed, but when the ship came out of faster-than-light travel, the ship lurched and dipped as if flying through a blast of venting gas from an asteroid explosion. A haze cleared before the ship and Etta found herself gazing upon a planet she never thought she would see.

A dense ring of metallic debris, that she would later learn was the remnants of some long obliterated defense system, surrounded Earth in suspended warning. Past the ring was the most beautiful thing Etta had ever seen. On the surface of the planet, deep blues framed browns and greens, all matter of vibrant colors rotating slowly with white, swirling clouds. It was all so surreal to her; she had only seen static images of this place and the scale of its majestic nature was beyond her initial imagination.

"I'll guide us in to our destination," Ghost said.

Etta's view shifted slightly as the ship turned toward the lower hemisphere, and she could make out a mountain range pressed up against the blue, wondrous ocean. The cloud cover temporarily whited out any chance to glimpse the landscape below, but when they cut through, tiny lights were visible to starboard. Ghost took the ship down even further, a mere kilometer above the ground, and he headed for the lights. There was something else on the horizon, though, but she couldn't make it out quite yet.

Frowning, Etta leaned forward. "Do we need to hail the city or initiate an all-fair arrival?"

Ghost's response sounded almost chiding, but more like a mother to a child asking a question in ignorance. "You are use to The Reef. Here, the ship and I coordinate with imbedded protocols and The Tower knows who is approaching, the ship's occupants, if any hostiles are present, and so on."

She merely nodded and squinted at the horizon, trying to pierce through the haze of distance. They flew in fast and with each passing kilometer traveled, The Last City became more visible—or more correctly, The giant sphere became more visible. The enormous white and gray orb hovered above the center of the city, perfectly still and serene. Thin wisps of clouds encircled it, while countless roads and streets poured out from underneath.

"The Traveler," Ghost identified.

It wasn't until they flew alongside and past the giant sphere that Etta realized it wasn't their destination. Along one of the outer walls rose a giant tower, bristling with all manner of things, from antennas to what looked like battery turrets. She could even see people moving about on a central platform where several ships were docked.

Ghost took them into a spacious hangar where humanoid-looking robots waved them to a spot in the back, away from the fenced-in walkways and various weapons loading stations and mechanic carts. They touched down gently, killed the engines, and Ghost led Etta out the rear loading ramp.

Immediately Etta felt different. The pull of gravity here was the first time she felt it naturally, and it was much more intense than she was expecting. Nearly every vessel and outpost she had been on in The Reef had dialed back its artificial gravity generators to conserve power, but Earth was so… organic. She did her best not to slump forward as she walked. Even the air was amazingly fresh and void of the stale recycled taste she had experienced all her life.

As she followed Ghost into an open lift, Etta realized no one was paying any attention to them. People dressed in all manner of outfits mingled with the humanoid machines carrying out tasks fit for a repair and upkeep crew in a traditional hangar. They started moving upward when she whispered, "Ghost, where are the security teams? Why hasn't anyone shaken us down yet?"

He didn't reply, but when the lift came to a stop, she got her answer. On the upper deck, walking among the workers were numerous armor-clad beings. Some wore ornate chest plates and greaves, while others wore simple designs. Weapons were clearly worn, secured to their backs or attached like sidearms, but no one appeared to be patrolling vigilantly. In fact, most looked to be on mission, talking quickly with workers or shiphands, exchanging items or trading, or simply relaxing with forearms resting on railings.

She felt out of place, with her simple attire, but the breeze rippling through the tower was warm and inviting and kept her from shivering. Everyone else looked either overdressed or packing on layers for much colder weather to come.

What stood out the most to Etta was the fact that almost every one of the armor-wearing soldiers did not wear a helmet. She noticed Humans, Awoken, and even Exo all interacting peacefully and without tension or quarrel. All her life she had been told of the anti-human displacement that most Awoken held onto—some of which she counted as valid—but here, there was no distinguishing of either. Etta almost felt dizzy with confusion. "How is this possible?" she breathed. "How are they not at each others' throats?"

Ghost turned toward her. "They are all Guardians. Some are older than you could imagine, while some have only recently been forged." As he floated forward and to the left, she followed him down a vaulted hallway and onto the open-air clearing she had seen before. The muted sunlight hit her bare skin and the heat was instantly felt on her shoulders and arms. It felt both odd and good to be under the sun and in atmosphere.

"Trees," Etta said in wonderment, when they came into view. Trunks, branches, and leaves formed a beautiful shaded area where several Guardians were conversing together. She had only seen holo stills of trees and had never seen an actual one up close. She wanted to rush over and touch the bark, but Ghost pressed on up a stairway and down another hallway where vendors were offering even more items for trade.

There was something completely majestic and serene about the entire experience that, added with the disorienting gravity, made Etta feel very off.

They came to another semi-open area, but this one looked more alchemic. Glowing orbs on pedestals, a giant mechanical device framed with foam-like protrusions, and leafy vines caught her eye. A figure then came into view, dressed in a decorative, yet functional outfit with a face-covering helmet. Broad shoulders and a quiet grace made Etta instantly classify him as an authority figure. He joined them at the edge of the circle of orb pedestals.

"I am the one who speaks for The Traveler," he said gently.

Ghost was silent but did an approximation of a bow by dipping his forward part downward. Etta followed suit with an exaggerated head nod, but the figure didn't respond with either malice or approval.

"When this Ghost was reactivated, I knew there was something… unexpected coming." He, with his hidden face, peered directly into Etta's. "This Ghost has brought you here, yes?"

Swallowing at the undivided attention, Etta nodded. "In KayDee's ship, yes. Though I'm sorry to say she is gone." She cringed at her choice of words._ I sound so callous_. "Ghost helped me escape from certain death, so I owe him my life."

"Indeed," The Speaker agreed. He seemed to catalog Etta's acknowledgment to that particular belief for later recall. "But for now, you will be boarding in the city below. Ghost, his Guardian, and his ship have much to tell us, and we will be occupied with them for some time."

Etta looked out at The Last City, sprawling with glorious motion of transports, people, and lights, and wondering where she would be staying. "Will Ghost be coming with me?"

The mechanical drone floated over to her side. "Not this time, Etta." He looked down at the city as well. "And you are the one that helped revive me. I'd say we're even."

She cracked a smile, the first in a long time. "Thank you."

As a humanoid robot came trotting up, The Speaker explained. "This Frame will see you to your quarters. I suggest you get some rest and familiarize yourself with The Last City."

Etta nodded in thanks, still feeling a bit overwhelmed with this place. "There's so much to learn."

"Indeed."


	5. Chapter 4 - The Guardian and Her Kin

Chapter 4 - The Guardian and Her Kin

_Guardian Transmission Log - 25J-32-ZF2 / Hunter Taryn Millan _

_-Unstable Link / Fragment Capture_

"_We came out of the old city wall along the edge of the northern tree line. The enemy contacts we were tracking had been a small group of Dregs; there was no Vandal to lead them. Without this local Fallen leadership, the half dozen contacts had easily led us through the complicated interior wall and out into the vast forest before us. They did not try to double back or hide their tracks._

"_It was too easy.__"_

_-Transmission Break-_

"_The male Human Titan in our group, Tannis, stopped short of the clearing and we took cover. He pointed towards the sky where a trio of Fallen Skiffs entered into realspace. Our active camouflage engaged, we blended in with our surroundings. Our female Awoken Warlock, Chanli, nodded to each of us and we spread out along the tree line. I took the left flank while Chanli moved right. Two dozen Fallen combatants formed a rough perimeter around the six Dregs. _

"_When we were in position, I noticed that the center Skiff was not a traditional troop carrier. It lowered to land and a single, large figure hopped out of the rear bay. The four-armed Fallen Captain stood tall and proud, his helmet sprouting a unique animal fur lining and his armor contained shades of green. _

"_At first, the symbol of the House of Wolves on his sash didn__'__t register anything in particular to me, but once I recalled how I recognized it, my anger burned. It was a marking familiar to my past back in The Reef. It represented the ally House of the Queen. It was not the symbol of an enemy; and yet here he was, in the midst of a band of Dregs that had just ambushed a lone Guardian that had crashed landed inside the Cosmodrome. _

"_When the three Skiffs left, the enemy was in sight. And I was ready to strike. _

"_My Ghost detected my increase in adrenaline and tried to warn me not to engage a numerically superior force and stick with the original plan of shadowing the attackers to their leader. I ignored him__—__I even ignored the double click over the comm from Tannis to recommend that we stand down. I holstered my hand cannon and activated my Arc Blade that would consume all of my reserved Light Energy. With my active camouflage still engaged, I bolted for the Captain. _

"_I was four meters away from the first Vandal when I heard Chanli__'__s sniper rifle crack in that tell-tale, ice-breaking sound and drop the first enemy standing in my way. Before his headless corpse could waver and fall to the ground, I was past the outer perimeter and into the inner guard. _

"_With my blade charged, I flew into action, while Chanli picked off another Vandal with a headshot. The electrical chaos of my sweeping motions claimed the first three Dregs in the blink of an eye, but I was now visible to the rest of the crowd. With my Light Energy quickly draining, I moved towards the prime target. The Captain was barking orders to the two Vandals at his side while pulling out his nasty-looking cannon slung over his shoulder, but his gaze was now locked on me. _

"_Tannis, with his shoulder charge, plowed through the enemy as their rifle fire bounced harmlessly off his shield. One of the two Vandals next to the Captain squared off against Tannis, but the Titan released his energy and knocked the four-armed creature back ten meters and temporarily out of the fight. Tannis then jumped into the air and unleashed his Light Energy with a lightning fist to the ground, emanating a wave of arc destruction that knocked the Captain back and brought down his shields._

"'_Now!__' __Tannis yelled to me._

"_With my remaining Light, I lunged at my target and struck him clean across his midsection, in between the folds of his armor. But he brought both of his right arms up amazingly fast and I took the full impact. My body was lifted up and my shields were instantly dropped. Tannis somehow managed to catch me and upright me in the span of a breath. _

"_The Captain brought his cannon around to point directly at me, but Chanli__'__s aim was true and the sniper rifle round hit her target in the left shoulder, rocking him back with arms flailing. With my knife still in my grip, I flipped it upside down and threw it._

"_The blade pierced right between the Captain__'__s eyes and he landed in a heap on the matted down grass. Behind me, I could hear Tannis open fire with his auto-rifle, cutting down a pair of Dregs. Chanli was now running toward the fray, Void Energy gathering in her left hand. _

"_As if finally shaking off the shock of the sudden attack, the remaining enemy troops opened fire on us. Taking advantage of my speed, I began dipping and diving through the projectiles and firing my hand cannon with wanton destruction. With my shields still down, the few rounds that struck me dented my armor and stung my skin, but I didn__'__t stop. _

"_Chanli leapt up into the air and released her trio of Void bursts, turning five Dregs into disappearing beings of vanishing purple light. That seemed to be the punctuation of the battle, for when the cloud of dust cleared there were no more contacts to engage. Tannis fired at a twitching Vandal lying prone on the ground and then waved us over to the Captain. _

"_Feeling a burning in my side, I knew I had been hit and would need to be patched up, but I gathered with Tannis and Chanli at the large figure with the green armor. My knife was still lodged in his skull and Tannis removed it and tossed it to me. I barely caught it, exhausted from the fight and the wounds both hidden and felt. Chanli, her rifle resting on her shoulder, gave me an inquisitive look but I shrugged her off. _

"'_What was so important about this guy?__' __Tannis asked, his tone slightly annoyed. __'__We don__'__t know if they have some bolthole in a cave around here or if they are grouping somewhere else in the Cosmodrome.__'"_

"'_They don__'__t,__' __I said quietly. __'__I know exactly where they__'__re from.__'_

"_I kicked the Captain__'__s dead body onto his side and pointed to the insignia on his armor__'__s sleeve. __'__The Reef.__'_

"_Chanli shook her head. __'__What does this mean?__'_

"_I slowly stood. __'__It means that there is a Queen I need answers from.__'"_

_-End Transmission-_

* * *

Etta walked through the five meter-wide living room and into the kitchen area of her temporary quarters. A simple food dispenser and water purifier filled most of the counter space while a single stool was tucked underneath a tall table. The large window in the far wall let in every beam of sunlight possible, washing the simple titled floor in the orange hue of morning.

It was the most luxurious place she had ever stayed.

She selected her food option from the dispenser and sat at the end of the counter on the stool. While the semi-liquid food was fairly bland, it was filling and nourishing. The water she tried didn't have the metallic tang of her old, outdated filtration unit on her enviro-suit.

She glanced over at the clothes the Frame had provided and smiled. The humanoid robot had a peculiar personality. It would not make small talk, nor converse more than what the situation required, but in its actions would eccentricities come out. The quarters the Frame had picked out was completely utilitarian and not ornate, unlike other apartments she had seen on the way through the city. It wasn't too much for Etta to adjust to, but still allowed her to familiarize herself with how appliances functioned. The Frame knew she was in transition and Etta was glad it accommodated her. The clothes, simple and plain, fit Etta's needs and not wants.

_But this view, though_. Etta got up and stood in front of the large window, basking in its warmth, but feeling the slight sting on her exposed skin. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes.

The comm unit on the hallway wall chirped and brought Etta out of her quiet moment. "Yes?" she answered.

It was the Frame, its voice sounding tiny. "Your presence has been requested at the Tower. I will be arriving shortly to escort you there. Good Morning."

The comm clicked off and Etta quickly got dressed. There was even a diagram included that showed her how to wrap the garments together and preserve her modesty in whatever level she wanted. The sunlight seemed to heat her up quickly, so she chose a wrapping that covered a thin layer over almost her entire body. It was vented and it helped her stay cool.

When Frame arrived, she gathered her pack, still containing her personal effects from The Reef. The door closed behind her and they were off.

* * *

They took the final lift to the top of the Tower and Etta took the pause in walking to remove her pack and examined her irritated skin where the strap was rubbing her shoulder. Being alone in the lift, she pushed her wrapping off her shoulder and noticed her pale skin was turning pink. "I think I have an allergy to the clothes you gave me."

"It is the sunlight," Frame explained. "Your skin is not used to the intensity and its pigment is changing." The robot looked up at her. "The pain will fade over time, when your skin will darken."

"What?" Etta asked. "My skin will change?" She pulled her top together and frowned. "Awoken skin doesn't darken, at least not that I've ever seen." She shifted her weight, sensing a realization. _How much am I going to change now that I__'__m so far from home?_

Etta didn't mind the new environment, clothes, or food, but she felt like she was slowly loosing her Awoken identity. Being a half-breed while in The Reef meant suppressing her Human side, but now that she didn't have to live under duress—Etta wasn't sure she was ready to accept her humanity. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. But right now wasn't the time to emote.

The lift doors opened and Etta followed Frame to the North end of the Tower. A light breeze rustled through the red-leafed trees and she relished in the unique sound. The Speaker was waiting for them on a platform off to the right of where they had met previously. Ghost was there, looking somehow brighter like someone had scrubbed him clean.

"Thank you for coming," the Speaker said politely, gathering his hands behind his back. "Have you settled in to your new quarters?"

Etta nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"Well, don't get too comfortable," he warned jokingly. The Speaker motioned toward Ghost.

Ghost floated toward Etta, coming within a half meter from her face. "I have chosen you, Henrietta Millan," he said. "There is a mission that we need to accomplish."

Etta frowned and felt her face scrunch up. "What do you mean?"

The Speaker took a step forward. "It is very rare that a Guardian cannot be revived, even though the Exo are different from Humans or Awoken. It was unfortunate what happened to KayDee-3, but this Ghost has chosen you, Etta."

"For what?" she asked, but a thought itched in the back of her mind. Something in the way the Speaker was talking made her see the end of their line of conversation. "I can't be a Guardian," she said flat out, waving her hands.

The Speaker's shoulders slumped ever so slightly. "You were not forged in Light." He glanced over to Ghost. "But this Ghost has seen something in you that he cannot fully explain."

"And you're okay with that?" Etta blurted out. "I mean, aren't there others out there more qualified than a half-breed Awoken?" She nearly clamped her hands over her mouth at her outburst. She didn't realize her voice was becoming louder, until other patrons walking below briefly looked up. "I'm no soldier," she added quietly.

"But you are a survivor," Ghost explained. "And where we are going requires your skills and knowledge. You _are_ important."

The Speaker began to slowly pace contemplatively. "You have been given quite a journey to digest, I'm sure. But you are only at the beginning of your destiny. Many have wielded the Light while others have served the Traveler and The Last City. Still others, like yourself, have come along side of Guardians to aid in their efforts." He stopped and faced Etta. "You have been called directly by a Ghost, a blessing from the Traveler. Your life, whether you fully understand it or not, can mean so much more to the fate of those around you, your family, acquaintances, and many more you have yet to meet."

Etta couldn't quiet explain it, but the Speaker's words poured comfort into her mind. She had lived so long in the shadows and struggled to survive, and yet here she was given an opportunity to strive for a cause other than pure self-preservation. That idea of selflessness was a new concept for her, one that meant breaking habits and learning to not treat everyone like a slaver or one that would do her harm.

Trust. It was something she wasn't familiar with, but Ghost had shown her what it truly meant. She had put her trust in Rand and he replied with betrayal. She had put her trust in Ghost and he brought her to safety from the outpost in the Reef. She was now asking to put her trust in going somewhere and doing something she didn't have much of a choice in, but it was the source of that trust that made it easier to accept. Ghost was someone that had proved he could be trusted.

Feeling a confidence brewing inside her chest, Etta slowly nodded and lifted her eyes to look at the Speaker. "Okay."

He lowered his chin. "You are in agreement?"

"It's not much of a choice," she said, opening her hands. "The other option would be, what, return to a life of salvage?" She shook her head. "No. I can feel something deep down that's telling me this is the right thing to do. I'm certain."

The Speaker's countenance lifted along with his shoulders. "Excellent. You will not regret this choice."

She smiled, her eyebrows raised. "Well, what now?" Etta asked, looking back and forth between Ghost and the Speaker.

Ghost, his forward chassis spinning and realigning with excitement, spoke. "Now, we get to work."


End file.
